INDIANAPOLIS — During a game this past Saturday at the Indyball Shootout, 2017 guard Paul Scruggs slowly brought the ball up the court, then suddenly burst into a sprint toward the hoop, catching the defense off-guard and assisting to an open player for the lay-up. It’s a common occurrence.

Scruggs is a big part of the 2017 Indy Hoosiers squad that has won AAU National Championships and is back playing with them after finishing his freshman season at Southport. And before he even started his first high school season, the 6-foot-3 freshman had an offer from Indiana.

“All I can really say is I’m just blessed,” Scruggs said.

Scruggs has made his mark alongside AAU teammates and fellow IU offer recipients Kris Wilkes and Zach Gunn. While Wilkes brings athleticism to the table and Gunn specializes in shooting, Scruggs said he is proud of his on-court energy.

“When I come into the game, I just bring the hypeness, bring the energy,” he said. “Try to get people going, get a couple steals and points and stuff like that.”

In his first season at Southport, Scruggs tried to do just that. After a rocky start to the season, the Cardinals won seven of their final eight games before losing to Pike in the Ben Davis sectional final, finishing the season 15-8 after going 1-19 just a year ago. But the result still left Scruggs unsatisfied.

“I expected a lot more out of us,” he said. “But I mean this was our first year playing with each other. We still have to get our chemistry right and stuff like that.”

On Saturday, though, Scruggs was back with the team he has been with since third grade. And in their first two games of the season, playing against teams a year older, the Indy Hoosiers won by scores of 73-34 and 63-35.

There’s an undeniable chemistry, he says, that makes playing with his teammates that much more enjoyable.

“It’s so fun,” Scruggs said. “I just love playing with these guys. We’ve been through our ups and downs but at the end of the day we’re still going to be like a family. Brothers. I feel like they’re a part of my family.”

Scruggs also acknowledged that he knows playing with Indy Hoosiers won’t last forever with college awaiting after three more high school seasons. He said he took visits to Indiana, Ohio and Xavier this season and has heard from UCLA, Memphis and Tennessee, additionally. But Scruggs’ only offer is from his home-state school. He said he “loves” that offer.

And when he talks about Indiana, one thing about the Hoosiers sticks out to him.

“They just play like they are family,” he said.

But Scruggs said he can’t focus too much on the future, that he needs to focus on the “day-to-day, getting my books right and stuff like that.” And for now, playing with the Indy Hoosiers, once again, is all the satisfaction Scruggs needs.

“I just love playing with these guys,” he said. “We have really good chemistry together.”

Feels like the 2014 class…..let’s hope it ends up better for us than that did. I would rather not even see these kids commit early to be honest. Just enjoy the process, take your time, and hopefully IU has had a couple years of good tournament runs to entice these kids to stay home. If not, I would not be shocked if we missed on all of them. Depending on what happens the next few years that could be the end of Crean or the continuation of strong years. I hope for the latter.

FinEndNow

Tom Crean to Tennessee anyone? lol.

IUBizmark

What really concerns me is that the next two seasons don’t go so well and we potentially lose out on some of these great recruiting classes due to turmoil in the program.

Rie

Maybe we could trade you there? Pointless posts could subsequently hit a new all-time low.

deebo

I will drive the moving truck

The_Real_Assembly_Hall

Are you being serious? I can’t tell.

FinEndNow

Im joking. Kind of. Its 50/50. It would surprise me but it wouldnt hurt my feelings.

The_Real_Assembly_Hall

This article is a recruiting based article and not a platform for that type of speculation.

I bet Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio State are really excited about these recruits.

Snookafly

“I just bring the hypeness…” I love it. Although, are you sure he’s in high school? In that picture he looks damn near 40.

Snookafly

Think: Cuonzo Martin’s vacancy.

Bled4IU

Love the positive attitude!

Hoosier Hall

We’d all love that more than anything but it’s probably never going to be like that again. Coaches poach kids from all over the place nowadays. We do it too. I’d settle for at least being in the top 10-15 every year and in contention for national championships.

Bryce Kepner

The best players didn’t ALWAYS stay home and “wear the candy stripes” . There have always been and there will always be great players from the state of Indiana that for some reason or another decide to leave the state OR go to a different school in Indiana.